Reducing MMPI-2 defensiveness: the effect of specialized instructions on retest validity in a job applicant sample

The MMPI-2 is often used for screening job applicants when public safety or security are at risk. Inherent in such applications is concern for profile validity and test defensiveness. In this study, we examine the impact of revised instructions on profile validity for a group of job applicants who initially produced invalid profiles. Participants were 271 male applicants for airline pilot positions. Of these, 72 produced invalid defensive MMPI-2 profiles during preemployment screening. The MMPI-2 was readministered to these applicants with instructions informing them of validity scales and instructing them to respond in a more open, honest manner. Comparisons were made between valid and invalid profiles for initial administrations and between valid and invalid profiles at readministration. Some clinical scales were more elevated for valid, nondefensive profiles. Most content scales showed more elevation for valid profiles, and 12% of the applicants who were retested produced significant elevations (T>or=65) on the content scales. Profiles were similar to those produced by employed pilots of a previous study.     

Reducing MMPI-2 Defensiveness: The Effect of Specialized Instructions on Retest Validity in a Job Applicant Sample

The MMPI-2 is often used for screening job applicants when public safety or security are at risk. Inherent in such applications is concern for profile validity and test defensiveness. In this study, we examine the impact of revised instructions on profile validity for a group of job applicants who initially produced invalid profiles. Participants were 271 male applicants for airline pilot positions. Of these, 72 produced invalid defensive MMPI-2 profiles during preemployment screening. The MMPI-2 was readministered to these applicants with instructions informing them of validity scales and instructing them to respond in a more open, honest manner. Comparisons were made between valid and invalid profiles for initial administrations and between valid and invalid profiles at readministration. Some clinical scales were more elevated for valid, nondefensive profiles. Most content scales showed more elevation for valid profiles, and 12% of the applicants who were retested produced significant elevations on the content scales. Profiles were similar to those produced by employed pilots of a previous study.     

Effect of Altered Instructions on the MMPI-2 Profiles of College Students Who Are Not Motivated to Distort Their Responses

Research has shown that when the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) is administered with instructions designed to make people aware of the validity indexes and when people are encouraged to respond honestly rather than invalidate the test through defensiveness, their scores on validity scales suggest a more candid responding. Before such modified administration procedures can be broadly used to increase the validity of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) profiles, it is necessary to have more information about the effect of the altered instructions on test performance of people in general. This study involved administering the MMPI-2 to a group of 218 "normals" (college students) with instructions that differed from traditional instructions. Specifically, the test instructions were altered to explain more about the test and the presence of validity scales to apprise participants that disingenuous responding can be detected. The responses of college students taking the test under altered instructions were compared with those of a similar sample of 150 college students who took the test under standard instructions. Although under altered conditions there was a statistically significant tendency for measures assessing defensiveness (L, K, and S) to be lower for some participants (women but not men), the differences were trivial. Modified instructions made little practical difference in test performance when people who were not motivated to deceive on the test were informed of the presence of validity checks on the test.     

Effect of altered instructions on the MMPI-2 profiles of college students who are not motivated to distort their responses

Research has shown that when the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) is administered with instructions designed to make people aware of the validity indexes and when people are encouraged to respond honestly rather than invalidate the test through defensiveness, their scores on validity scales suggest a more candid responding. Before such modified administration procedures can be broadly used to increase the validity of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) profiles, it is necessary to have more information about the effect of the altered instructions on test performance of people in general. This study involved administering the MMPI-2 to a group of 218 "normals" (college students) with instructions that differed from traditional instructions. Specifically, the test instructions were altered to explain more about the test and the presence of validity scales to apprise participants that disingenuous responding can be detected. The responses of college students taking the test under altered instructions were compared with those of a similar sample of 150 college students who took the test under standard instructions. Although under altered conditions there was a statistically significant tendency for measures assessing defensiveness (L, K, and S) to be lower for some participants (women but not men), the differences were trivial. Modified instructions made little practical difference in test performance when people who were not motivated to deceive on the test were informed of the presence of validity checks on the test.     

Defining the Assessment and Treatment Competencies to Deliver Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Multi-Center Validation Study

Despite the vastly increased dissemination of the low-intensity (LI) version of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of anxiety and depression, no valid and reliable indices of the LI-CBT clinical competencies currently exist. This research therefore sought to develop and evaluate two measures: the low-intensity assessment competency scale (LIAC) and the low-intensity treatment competency scale (LITC). Inductive and deductive methods were used to construct the competency scales and detailed rating manuals were prepared. Two studies were then completed. The first study used a quantitative, fully-crossed design and the second a multi-center, quantitative longitudinal design. In study one, novice, qualified, and expert LI-CBT practitioners rated an LI-CBT assessment session (using the LIAC) and an LI-CBT treatment session (using the LITC). Study two used the LIAC and LITC across four training sites to analyze the competencies of LI-CBT practitioners over time, across raters, and in relation to the actor/patients’ feedback concerning helpfulness, the alliance, and willingness to return. Both the LIAC and LITC were found to be single factor scales with good internal, test-retest reliability and reasonable inter-rater reliability. Both measures were sensitive to measuring change in clinical competence. The LIAC had good concurrent, criterion, discriminant, and predictive validity, while the LITC had good concurrent, criterion, and predictive validity, but limited discriminant validity. A score of 18 accurately delineated a minimum level of competence in LI-CBT assessment and treatment practice, with incompetent practice associated with patient disengagement. These observational ratings scales can contribute to the clinical governance of the burgeoning use of LI-CBT interventions for anxiety and depression in routine services and also in the methods of controlled studies.     

Effects of response sets on NEO-PI-R scores and their relations to external criteria

Validity scales indicate the extent to which the results of a self-report inventory are a valid indicator of the test taker's psychological functioning. Validity scales generally are designed to detect the common response sets of positive impression management (underreporting, or faking good), negative impression management (overreporting, or faking bad), and random responding. The revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992b) is a popular personality assessment tool based on the 5-factor model of personality and is used in a variety of settings. The NEO-PI-R does not include objective validity scales to screen for positive or negative impression management. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of recently proposed validity scales for detecting these response sets on the NEO-PI-R (Schinka, Kinder, & Kremer, 1997) and to examine the effects of positive and negative impression management on correlations between the NEO-PI-R and external criteria (the Interpersonal Adjective Scale-Revised-B5 [Wiggins & Trapnell, 1997] and the NEO-PI-R Form R). The validity scales discriminated with reasonable accuracy between standard responding and the 2 response sets. Additionally, most correlations between the NEO-PI-R and external criteria were significantly lower when participants were dissimulating than when responding to standard instructions. It appears that response sets of positive and negative impression management may pose a significant threat to the external validity of the NEO-PI-R and that validity scales for their detection might be a useful addition to the inventory.     

The detection of feigned uncoached and coached posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI-2 in a sample of workplace accident victims

In this study research participants completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) under standard instructions and then were asked to fake posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when completing the MMPI-2 for a 2nd time in 1 of 4 conditions with different instructions on how to fake PTSD: (a) uncoached, (b) coached about PTSD symptom information, (c) coached about MMPI-2 validity scales, or (d) coached about both symptoms and validity scales. These MMPI-2 protocols were then compared with protocols of claimants with workplace accident-related PTSD. Participants given information about the validity scales were the most successful in avoiding detection as faking. The family of F scales (i.e., F, FB, FP), particularly FP, produced consistently high rates of positive and negative predictive power.     

Underreporting of psychopathology on the MMPI-2: a meta-analytic review

Meta-analytic techniques were applied to studies of the MMPI-2 in which participants given standard instructions were compared with participants instructed or believed to have been underreporting. Traditional and supplementary indices of underreporting yielded a mean effect size of 1.25, suggesting that underreporting respondents differ from those responding honestly by a little more than 1 standard deviation, on the average, on these scales. Analyses of classification accuracy suggested that several scales are moderately effective in detecting underreporting, although accuracy decreases if participants have been coached about validity scales. Base rates of defensive responding in relevant populations are reviewed, and methodological issues, including research designs, coaching, and incremental validity of supplementary underreporting scales, are discussed.     

Racial differences in socially desirable responding in selection contexts: magnitude and consequences

Two studies were conducted to examine the magnitude and consequences of racial differences on social desirability (SD) scales. Study 1 included 1,063 job applicants, and Study 2 included 3 sets of incumbents (total N = 534). In both studies, participants were administered several personality measures and an SD scale. Across all samples, Whites scored lower on the SD scale than Blacks (average d = .37), Hispanics (average d = .47), and Asians (average d = 1.04), but these differences were not observed on the personality scales. The consequence of differences in socially desirable responding (SDR) is that fewer minority group members would be selected if SD scales were used to derive cut scores to eliminate individuals from the applicant pool or if the scales were used to correct personality test scores for SDR. However, applying the SD correction did not affect the validity of the personality test for any of the racial groups. Overall, our findings suggest that researchers and practitioners should consider the use of SD scales very carefully, as their use may have unintended consequences. These studies also demonstrate a need to closely examine the construct validity of SD measures across diverse groups.     

Central Fixations are Inadequately Controlled by Instructions Alone: Implications for Studying Cerebral Asymmetry

A fundamental concern when using visual presentations to study cerebral asymmetry is to ensure that stimuli are presented with the same degree of retinal eccentricity from a central fixation point in either visual field. However, a widely used procedure intended to control fixation location merely instructs participants to fixate appropriately without any other means of ensuring that central fixations actually occur. We assessed the validity of assuming that instructions alone ensure central fixation by using the traditional R VF advantage for words and either (a) only instructions to fixate centrally, or (b) an eye-tracking device that ensured central fixation on every trial. Experiments 1 and 2 found that when only instructions were given, the vast majority of fixations were not central, and more occurred to the right of centre than to the left. Moreover, the prevalence of non-central fixations was otherwise disguised by the finding that both fixation procedures produced similar R VF advantages in overt performance. The impact of typical non-central fixations on performance was revealed by systematically manipulating fixation location in Experiment 3, where deviations in fixation of only 0.25 from centre had a reliable impact on visual field effects. Implications of these findings for studies of cerebral asymmetry are discussed.     

The Effect of Challenge and Threat Appraisals Under Evaluative Presence

Four studies were conducted to examine whether cognitive appraisals, manipulated through task instructions, would moderate social‐facilitation effects. In Study 1, participants in the challenge condition performed better on a mental arithmetic task when the experimenter was present. Conversely, participants in the threat condition performed worse when the experimenter was present. Study 2 extended these findings across 2 math tasks that varied in degree of difficulty. The pattern of performance data failed to support prior drive theories and provided support for a unique contribution of cognitive appraisals in explaining social‐facilitation effects. Study 3 validated the appraisal manipulations by using multiple measures of cognitive appraisals. Finally, Study 4 offered increased validity by replicating the performance data using an anagram task.     

Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Religious Maturity

Gordon Allport's (1 950) conceptualization of the mature religious sentiment contin- ues to have a tremendous impact on theory and research in the psychology of religion. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a co~nprehensive and valid measure of reli- gious maturity derived explicitly from Allport's theory. To that end, two studies are reported documenting the develop~nent and initial validation of a new scale to mea- sure religious maturity based on Allport's theorking. Content validity is an often ig- nored but crucial step in the construct validation process. With this concern in mind, the content validity of the new scale was established prior to its use in Study 1. Next, Study 1 investigated the empirical validity of the new scale using a known-groups tnethodology, and subsequent analysis resulted in the develop~nent of arevised scale. Study 2 used a different population of participants as well as a different method of scale validation. The revised scale was used in Study 2, and it was found to be related to various indexes of religious maturity, as well as measures of diverse religious and personality constructs embedded within the theoretical framework of religious matu- rity. Whereas some weaknesses emerged, the evidence to date supports continued re- search with this new measure of religious maturity.     

Stay calm! Regulating emotional responses by implementation intentions: Assessing the impact on physiological and subjective arousal

Implementation intention (IMP) has recently been highlighted as an effective emotion regulatory strategy. Most studies examining the effectiveness of IMPs to regulate emotion have relied on self-report measures of emotional change. In two studies we employed electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) in addition to arousal ratings (AR) to assess the impact of an IMP on emotional responses. In Study 1, 60 participants viewed neutral and two types of negative pictures (weapon vs. non-weapon) under the IMP “If I see a weapon, then I will stay calm and relaxed!” or no self-regulatory instructions (Control). In Study 2, additionally to the Control and IMP conditions, participants completed the picture rating task either under goal intention (GI) to stay calm and relaxed or warning instructions highlighting that some pictures contain weapons. In both studies, participants showed lower EDA, reduced HR deceleration and lower AR to the weapon pictures compared to the non-weapon pictures. In Study 2, the IMP was associated with lower EDA compared to the GI condition for the weapon pictures, but not compared to the weapon pictures in the Warning condition. ARs were lower for IMP compared to GI and Warning conditions for the weapon pictures.     

Framing matters: contextual influences on interracial interaction outcomes

Previous studies indicate that interracial interactions frequently have negative outcomes but have typically focused on social contexts. The current studies examined the effect of manipulating interaction context. In Study 1, Black and White participants worked together with instructions that created either a social focus or a task focus. With a task focus, interracial pairs were more consistently synchronized, Black participants showed less executive function depletion, and White participants generally showed reduced implicit bias. Follow-up studies suggested that prejudice concerns help explain these findings: White participants reported fewer concerns about appearing prejudiced when they imagined an interracial interaction with a task focus rather than a social focus (Study 2a), and Black participants reported less vigilance against prejudice in an imagined interracial interaction with a task focus rather than a social focus (Study 2b). Taken together, these studies illustrate the importance of interaction context for the experiences of both Blacks and Whites.     

Research validity scales for the NEO-PI-R: development and initial validation

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a set of research validity scales for use with the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992b). In study 1 we used the existing NEO-PI-R item pool to select items for three validity scales: positive presentation management, negative presentation management, and inconsistency. Several iterative item and scale analyses were conducted, using multiple criteria for item selection. These analyses resulted in 10-item scales. In Study 2, the internal consistency, interscale relationships, and normative characteristics were examined in a separate sample of working adults. In Study 3, the validity of the scales was examined by contrasting five sets of NEO-PI-R protocols: from a separate sample of working adults, from a sample of 100 NEO-PI-R protocols with randomly produced responses, and from three samples of undergraduates completing the NEO-PI-R under different instructional sets. Analyses revealed that both the research validity scales and the NEO-PI-R domain scales were sensitive to group differences. issues relating to the appropriate use of the scales are discussed.     

Suppressing and focusing on a negative memory in social anxiety: effects on unwanted thoughts and mood

Researchers have hypothesized that thought suppression contributes to the large volume of unwanted thoughts in anxiety disorders. However, comparisons to both non-suppression and non-anxious groups are necessary for studies on thought suppression in high anxiety. Participants completed a series of thought verbalization periods and a social interaction. During one period, participants were randomly assigned to focus upon a negative social memory, suppress it, or think freely while monitoring the memory. Results indicated that thought suppression and focusing caused a greater rise and subsequent decline in unwanted thoughts than monitoring instructions for both high and low social anxiety groups. Importantly, highly socially anxious participants had more unwanted thoughts overall, but did not respond significantly differently to thinking instructions when compared to the less anxious group. Interestingly, highly socially anxious participants did report more thought suppression attempts in their everyday life. They also appeared to benefit by experiencing less shyness after suppression when compared to focusing, a pattern not evident for the low social anxiety group.     

Screening for personality disorders in a nonclinical population

Based on the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), the IIP-PD and the IIP-C screening scales were developed to distinguish personality disorder (PD) from non-PD and Cluster C from other PD, respectively, in a clinic population. Two studies were conducted to determine (a) validity and reliability of these IIP scales for PD screening in a nonclinical population, (b) specificity of IIP-C for identifying Cluster C, and (c) usefulness of the IIP scales for screening Cluster A. College students were screened using the IIP scales (Study 1, N = 454, Study 2, N = 87). High and low scorers completed PD-related questionnaires in Study 1 and a clinical interview for PD symptomatology in Study 2. Results indicated strong test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and factorial, convergent, and external validity. The scales tapped a common deficit in interpersonal relatedness, with some distinction between externalizing and internalizing dimensions, respectively, and both scales were positively and significantly associated with schizotypal traits. In conclusion, the IIP-PD and IIP-C are useful and valid screening instruments for identifying any versus no PD in nonclinical populations.     

Do warnings of response verification moderate the relationship between personality and cognitive ability?

This article presents the results of 2 studies that examine the effect of presenting a warning of response verification by others on the relationship between measures of personality and cognitive ability. In both a field study and a laboratory study, stronger correlations were generally found between measures of personality and cognitive ability when a warning of verification was present. The results from the studies also showed that the warning of verification was associated with slower item response latencies for certain personality scales, suggesting that exposure to the warning increased the complexity of the response decision. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of altering test instructions on the construct validity of personality measures used in applied settings.